Mass Effect: Promises
by 3DoorsDownAndAwayFromTheSun
Summary: This is similar to Mass Effect: Horizons. This one focuses on the strain of going through the Reaper War has put on Shepard's relationship with Miranda Lawson.


The slow rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the white, sterile halls of Huerta Memorial. A cold breeze flew down the halls every so often from the air conditioning. Doctors walked slowly, only to talk to a nurse, colleague, or adjust their coats as they went about their business. Down the hallway past a gurney covered in bandages and bed sheets; two guards, dressed in C-SEC uniforms, stood by the door. One was a turian, his expression stern and unreadable, the other was a human, in his mid-twenties, was less composed then his comrade. He quit twiddling his thumbs when the sounds of footsteps echoed in the hall. Those footsteps clapped out for designer high heels that were attached to the feet of a woman. A woman with a near perfect figure strode confidently down the hallway. Her aura seemed cold. Her hair lay gently upon her shoulders and back like black strands of silk. Her eyes were like beautiful, polished blue daggers preparing to pierce the soul of anyone who dare looked upon them. Her black dress laid tightly on her figure. Her pale skin almost reflected the lights above. As she approached, the male C-SEC officer let out a whistle barely audible. The turian elbowed him in his chest and growled.

"What!" the man cringed in pain.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" the turian replied annoyed, his tone still growling.

"No!" the man went back to licking his wounds "Damn it. That really hurt."

"That is THE Miranda Lawson or Miranda Shepard after she married the hero of the Reaper War" the turian replied getting back into position as Miranda approached.

"Isn't that the guy we are guarding right now and why is this woman so important? I mean except for screwing a legend." The turian elbowed him again.

"Shut up!" he growled. "That woman is former Cerberus. She would have whatever you have down there pulled out your head and her husband would let her get away with it."

Miranda walked up. The turian saluted and his comrade followed suit.

"Where is the doctor?" She said in her cold tone. The human shivered. A salarian started walking down the hall. As soon as the salarian saw the woman, he started running.

"Ms. Law…I mean Mrs. Shepard, a pleasure to meet you." The salarian uttered nervously.

"Pleasantries aside, how is he doing?" her voice hinted at annoyance.

"He is fine. The bullet broke his arm but his other wounds will be healed in a few days. He will make a full recovery." The salarian quickly spewed out.

"Good. I am going to see him. If anyone asks for him or me, we are busy. "She threw her glance at the human C-SEC Officer. "No one gets in understood."

He squeaked "Yes ma'am." The turian laughed at him.

The doors slid open and on a hospital bed watching a holovid of Blasto 6, Shepard sat. His expression was of one being tortured with boredom. He looked over and he smiled.

"Hey" he said warmly. Miranda stood in the middle of the room and crossed her arms.

"What?" he said confused.

"You ass." She still crossed her arms, her face distorted with annoyance.

"I feel I had that coming." He said with a light laugh. She walked over to his bed and grabbed a nearby chair. She sat herself down. She still was annoyed.

"What did you promise me after the Reaper War was over?" She said, her arms were still crossed, her tone harsh.

"Do we REALLY have to talk about this now?" he exasperated.

"What did you tell me?" she pushed.

"I said 'After this I am done saving the world.' "

"And…?" She added.

"And I would no longer put myself in danger." He said like a child admitting to taking a cookie from the cookie jar.

"And you did it anyways again." She threw up her arms in frustration.

Shepard started to sit up but some pain shot into his arm. Miranda moved to help but he waved her off. She sat back. Her face went from annoyed to concern in a single wave.

He looked down at his arm. It was wrapped in a cast and some small mass effect field generators were attached at the joints to help mend the bones. It really itched. He looked back up at Miranda. She was starting to tear up. He now felt bad.

"Miranda…" He said softly. She looked up at him. "It's ok. I just…" she interrupted him.

"I was worried about you! No one told me where you were or how to get ahold of you! For a God damn week, I didn't know if you were dead or injured! You told me you would take the council position." Her voice was shaken as she held back tears

"I am. It will be awhile and I thought I would do one last job as a specter." His guilt hung in his tone like a weight. "I am sorry. I didn't think you would feel so strongly about this."

"It's just…" Shepard and even the world waited for the next word to follow. "I thought we wouldn't be doing this anymore."

Shepard looked back down at his arm. Ever since the reapers had been defeated Shepard had been in another conflict. This one was against himself. He was grappling with the nightmares of seeing waves of husks, cannibals, and other monstrosities devouring his friends. The sound of men screaming and dying atrocious deaths to the reapers was like a bad gore movie that wouldn't end. The only relief he got was when he was back in the fight as a specter. A stiff battle was his drink of choice to get away from the pain of having to relive those memories. He looked back up at Miranda. This was also shoving her away. He thought marrying and settling down would help his troubled mind but the quiet just seemed to annoy the dreams if anything.

"I'm sorry Miranda." Shepard said weakly. His tone was barely able to carry itself to her ears.

She looked down at the floor. A silence fell through the room. She laid her hands in her lap. She remembered when she first saw Shepard. He was nothing but tubes and a helmet filled with the brain of a dead man. At that time he was just another project she needed completed. She didn't know when but somehow they clicked. It grew from there. She started to remember the day he found her. She had just barely escaped an ambush when she collapsed. Her body tired and broken was barely able to stay awake along enough to see a banshee coming towards her. It screamed as if in agony. It got closer. It was like death itself was coming for her and she could nothing about it. Just before she finally passed out, she heard her omni-tool beep. Then her eyes closed but she forced them back open. The banshee was on top of her. The banshee screamed one more time. Then it started to create a biotic field in its hand. It raised its hand preparing to unleash a horrible death. Then a solitary bang rang out. The banshee stopped and remained still. The biotic field dissipated. She finally succumbed to the darkness.

When she woke up she was on a hospital bed. She looked around and there on the bed next to her was a wounded soldier. His armor was burned off. He had his head turned away and all she could tell was his head was buzzed and dog tags dangled off his neck. They had N7 engraved on them. She tried to get up but the pain put her back down. Out of nowhere, alarms went off. It came from the heart monitor. Two Alliance surgeons walked over with a crash cart. They checked the soldier's pulse and breathing. They tried to revive him but the soldier never came too. Miranda was too weak to scream his name. They grabbed a cloth and wheeled him out. She was about to start crying when the doors opened once again. A familiar voice could be heard asking desperately "Where is she?" Footsteps approached the bed. She looked up. It was a soldier. His hair was buzzed, his features strong and his blazing green eyes looked down at her. An N7 tag dangled off his neck. He had bandages every place where they could be put. The most prominent was a bandage that ran down half his arm.

"Shepard" she barely managed.

"It's ok." He knelt by her. He caressed her hand. His warm skin felt so safe.

"I bet I look like shit." She said chuckled weakly.

"You look alright. I, on the other hand, got some scratches here and there." He said laughing but relief was still detectable in his voice. He kissed her on the forehand. "I am just glad you're safe.

"Of course" she said defiantly. "I am not about to let a bunch of mindless husks take me down."

"I'm glad." He replied gently. "Miranda I need to tell you something." This came out of nowhere. It was as if the wind had changed direction with no warning or reason. "After this, I am through."

"Through with what?" She thought her injuries were making her hear things.

"I am done saving the world." He smiled "I am getting too old for this."

"But.." She tried to protest.

"No, listen to me. We just survived what many other races before us couldn't. I want a life. I want to stop worrying if I am going to get see those I care for. As soon as everything is up and running, I am quitting the specters and retiring."

"Why?" Miranda was shocked. The hero of countless worlds was just willing to end it. "Are you doing this for me? Do you know how stupid you sound right now?" she blurted out.

"That sounds like the Ms. Lawson I know." He laughed. "I am tired Miranda. I am tired of fighting. I am tired of watching people die. I am not going to live forever." She looked at him like he was crazy. "and to answer your question…yes."

"I assume you are not admitting to how silly this sounds?" she replied. He laughed.

"Yeah."

"Shepard, I don't know." She said confused.

"Is something wrong?" He was now the confused one.

"No. There is just a lot to consider."

"Such as…?"He said with annoyance in his tone.

"You are an even bigger hero now. I am the former second-in-command of Cerberus." She was scrounging for reasons.

"I don't care." He replied quickly.

"That would look bad for you. Plus the Alliance will want me to answer for Cerberus' crimes." She replied matter-of-factly. She let go of his hand. "I highly doubt you took the Illusive Man alive. They will want someone to answer for the things he has done."

"I am still a specter. As far as the Alliance and council is concerned, you helped us and if they do bring charges it will be on my authority that they be pardoned." He smiled wickedly. "I did just save them for the third time. "

"Shepard...There is more to it." She said sadly.

"What? Whatever it is, we can face it together." He said.

"I can't have kids." She said angrily. "My genetic modifications…they rendered me infertile. I know you want to have a family but I can't give you that."

"Miranda…" he tried to reply

"No. I know you and that Alliance woman had something before I came along. You two would be happy together." She said trying to be detached. Shepard stepped away from the bed. Miranda was afraid he would walk out but he just looked out the window. He seemed to be thinking.

Shepard faced her once more. He crossed his arms. She saw the anger in his face.

"Yes, me and Ashe had something long time ago but we moved on." The withheld anger growled in his tone. " You saw what happened on Horizon with the collectors." He relaxed a bit. "Yet with that said, I don't care about the past. I want a future. I want a future with Miranda Lawson."

"Shepard, I told you, I can't have kids." She protested.

"I already know about that." Her eyes grew. She looked at him in shock.

"How?" her tone was full of puzzlement.

"When I was helping with the Shadow Broker, I read some files. The Shadow Broker had one about you and your infertility." His tone was solid and unbreakable.

"Then why me Shepard?" she asked angrly.

"Because I don't care. You are the person who gave me a second chance. You are the person who defied all you had known for me and for the galaxy. Leaving you over something like infertility would be an insult to what we have."

Miranda reached up for his hand. His anger subsided and he walked over, knelt back down and gently held it. She whispered "You most promise me one thing."

"What is it?" he said softly. He looked down at her. For once she seemed fragile. Her strong demeanor was gone as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She seemed scared.

"Promise after this, you are done putting yourself in danger." She whimpered.

He came close to her face. Their noses almost touched, they could feel each other's breath on their skin. "I promise you, I am done saving the world…." He gently kissed her on the forehead. "and I am done putting those I care for and myself in danger. The world no longer needs heroes." His voice was unwavering. His tone solid as stone that made his will.

"So what now?" she asked, smiling at the prospects.

"Well, I am sure the world owes me a favor or two. Live somewhere tropical and just get old." He said light-hearted.

"That sounds good." She said. She gently kissed his forehead.

"Good. Now I can get you in bed for a third time." He laughed. She giggled shly.

"You ass."

Shepard looked around at the hospital. The white room reminded him of how he found Miranda after the war.

"Miranda, no more." He said quietly.

"No more what?" She replied puzzled.

"When they release me, I will retire from the specters. I lost so much. I can't stand to lose anymore." She looked at him. His words rang with sincerity and sorrow.

"No, it is fine. You are the legendary commander Shepard. It was wrong of me too…" she started.

"No." He interrupted. "I shouldn't be doing this. The galaxy is at peace and so should I. I'm sorry Miranda."

She moved the chair closer. "I am just happy you are safe. I have something to tell you." She looked excited. She was trying to hold back a smile.

"Did they finally let Garrus play himself in the movie?"

"No." She started getting gitty. "I'm pregnant."

Shepard shot up, ignoring the pain in his arm. "How the hell did that happen?"

"The doctors can't explain it. One theorized maybe something in my genetics healed the damage. Of course Garrus said that you could impregnate a pre-cure female krogan." She laughed.

"I am going to be dad…" He seemed happy but then fear struck him. His body withered in terror.

"What is wrong?" She held his hand.

"We have to tell my mother."


End file.
